Effect of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program on Respiratory Disorders and Quality of Life in Chemical Victims of Sardasht, Iran

Respiratory problems and loss of quality of life are the main challenges facing the chemical victims of mustard gas. These people suffer from multiple physical problems, most notably, respiratory distress due to the physical effects of contact with this chemical agent. Moreover, the chronic and progressive nature of the illness leads to the loss of the quality of life in these people. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of the pulmonary rehabilitation program on respiratory disorders and quality of life in chemical victims of Sardasht, Iran.

This clinical trial was conducted on 80 patients with chemical injuries in 2018. The patients were selected using available sampling and random allocation methods, and they were then divided into two groups of intervention and control. Initially, the two groups were asked to complete St. Georgechr('39')s quality of life questionnaire. Subsequently, they were subjected to the spirometry test and six-minute walk distance. Following that, the intervention group received the pulmonary rehabilitation program in 8 sessions. On the other hand, the control group received routine care. The two groups were requested two months later to complete the questionnaire again. The results were analyzed using the paired t-test, independent t-test, and ANCOVA.

According to the results, there was a significant difference between the control and intervention groups regarding the mean±SD of forced vital capacity (FVC) (P=0.021), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (P˂0.001), and the ratio of FVC to FEV1 (P=0.004). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups regarding the visual analog scale scores of breathlessness (P=0.606). On the other hand, a significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of six-minute walk distance (P=0.049). Furthermore, the intervention group showed a significant increase in the quality of life, compared to the control group (P˂0.001).

The application of lung rehabilitation programs can help reduce respiratory problems and improve the quality of life of chemically-injured patients with chronic respiratory diseases.